Talks

Here is a selection of (mostly) recent talk slides and videos from my lectures on various topics. My CV contains a more detailed selection of talks I have given in the last five years. I like speaking to all audiences; if you would like me to speak at your event, please follow this link:

Book Ismar for a speaking engagement.

Research

1. Manifold calculus of functors for knots and r-immersions, Boston University, November 2025.

2. Mathematics for democracy: New research directions in social choice, districting, and representation, Joint Mathematics Meetings, Seattle, WA, January 2025.

3. Topological models for simple games, Joint Mathematics Meetings, Seattle, WA, January 2025.

4. Taylor towers for r-immersions, University of Virginia Topology and Geometry Seminar, February 2024.

5. Simplicial complexes and political strucures, GEOMAT-A Conference, Mérida, Mexico, January 2024. Here is a YouTube video of the talk. (Here are the slides for a shorter version I gave at the 2024 JMM in San Francisco, CA.)

6. The topology of political structures, University of Michigan, March 2022.

7. Simplicial complexes and political structures, EPFL, Switzerland, May 2021. 

8. Topological data analysis and the spread of COVID-19, International Environmetrics Society conference, December 2020.

9. Calculus of functors for r-immersions, Stockholm University, Sweden, January 2019.

10. Cohomology of braids, graph complexes, and configuration space integrals, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, January 2019.

Math and democracy

1. Mathematics and democracy: Quantitative tools for civic renewal (video), Wellesley, Smith, and MIT clubs of Rochester, NY, April 2026

2. Count on us: Youth, math, and the future of democracy, Prva Gimnazija Sarajevo, March 2026.

3. Math goes to Washington: The mathematics of democracy, from theory to practice (video), Joint Mathematics Meetings AMS-AAAS lecture, January 2026.

4. Math of voting and gerrymandering (video), Rank the Vote Ohio, November 2025.

5. Hillary Rodham Clinton Center Summit (video, starting at 1:34:38), November 2025.

6. New applications of mathematics, statistics, and data science in democratic processes (video in Bosnian), COSMOHUB, Sarajevo, Bosnia, August 2025.

7. Just Equations conference (panel discussion), April 2025.

8. An introduction to ranked choice voting, Better Ballot Sacramento (webinar), January 2025.

9. Mathematics and democracy: interdisciplinarity in the classroom and in civic action, United World College, January 2025.

10. Redesigning our demoracy: a mathematical approach, University of Notre Dame, November 2024.

11. Math of the Electoral College, Fix Democracy First, August 2024.

12. Making democracy count, FairVote, May 2024.

13. Making democracy count: math's influential role in voting and representation, Smithsonian Associates, May 2024 (here are some pre-talk questions and links to readings).

14. The shape of democracy: topological methods in social choice theory, University of Virginia colloquium, February 2024.

15. Data science in service of democracy, USAID DiaWorks series, September 2023.

16. Math and politics in the Boston City Council elections, Ranked Choice Boston Summer Youth Internship Program, August 2023.

17. Mathematical foundations of democracy, Wellesley College Science Faculty Speaker Series, February 2023.

18. Game theory for social justice, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, June 2022.

19. Math, politics, and game theory (series of lectures), Critical Approach to the Political Representation in Bosnia-Herzegovina conference, April 2022.

20. Prisoner's dilemma, tragedy of the commons, and game theory as a model for sustainability, Step by Step Sustainablility Series, February 2022.

21. Quantitative literacy and democracy, Wellesley Democratic Town Committee, November 2021.

22. Traps and pitfalls in interpreting and reporting statistics, Science Journalism Conference, Bosnia-Herzegovina, July 2021.

23. Innumeracy and politics: Voting, apportionment, and other mathematical ways we fail at democracy, Wellesley College's Quantitative Reasoning Program lecture series, October 2020. (Here is the video of the talk.)

24. Mathematika i politika: kako kvantitativna nepismenost ograničava demokratiju, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at University of Sarajevo, June 2020 (in Bosnian).

25. Math and politics: How innumeracy makes us fail at democracy, Albright Institute for Global Affairs, January 2020. (Here is the video of the talk.)

Lectures on Tap

1. Knot theory: The mathematics of everyday tangles, Somerville, MA, July 2026.

2. War games: The mathematics of conflict and negotiation, Lectures on Tap, Somerville, MA, May 2026.

3. Infinity+1: The strange world of things that never end, Somerville, MA, June 2026.

4. The math that built the modern world: AI, GPS, and more, Cambridge, MA, April 2026.

5. Seeing clearly in a cloud of data: Statistics as a political weapon, Cambridge, MA, February 2026.

6. Making democracy count, November 2025.

Other expository talks

1. Old math, new applications (in Bosnian), First Bosniak Gymnasium, Sarajevo, Bosnia, April 2025.

2. Why math is more important now than ever before, United World College, Mostar, Bosnia, March 2022.

3. Simplicial complexes and their applications, Bard College, May 2021.

4. Some new applications of topology (in Bosnian), University of Sarajevo, Bosnia, March 2019.

STEM education

1. STEM: An integrated approach to education (in Bosnian), STEM Fair, Mostar, Bosnia, November 2019.

2. STEM education and economic development (in Bosnian), Academy387, Sarajevo, Bosnia, March 2019.

3. The importance of STEM education, 10th Days of BHAAAS in Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 2018.